I didn’t know it when I shoved my swimsuit into my backpack. My husband was blissfully unaware of it as I handed him his boarding pass the next day. Twenty-two hours later as the customs agent stamped my passport, I was still very much me.

But sometime during that first overseas trip with Jeff, I transformed from mild-mannered middle-aged woman into someone I didn’t recognize. Who knew our long-term relationship would be tested on our first long-distance trip?

Jeff and I had been together 11 years. We had been through the usual together: thick and thin, sickness and health, richer and (mostly) poorer. Now we were going through something new — more than a dozen time zones away in Southeast Asia.

I spent my 20s traipsing around the world with a budget that was more thread-thin than shoestring, but this trip was different. Although we were staying in inexpensive guesthouses, I was in my late 40s and Jeff, a decade older.

I was certain this new adventure would bring us even closer together, especially because our guesthouse rooms were tiny.

After a few days, we left Ho Chi Minh City, where Jeff and I had indeed grown closer — by clutching each other tightly as we crossed streets that were a never-ending river of traffic. We traveled through the Mekong Delta to Phnom Penh. This was our dream trip, but I was about to learn Jeff’s dream of a trip was slightly different from mine.

After we checked into our hotel, we wandered the city’s dusty streets, stopping outside a restaurant.

“It’s too expensive,” I said as we looked at a menu. “Besides, the menu is in three languages. It’s not authentic.”

Jeff agreed to keep looking.

We ate at a less expensive place that I hoped was more authentic than the place down the street.

The next afternoon in our room, Jeff popped open a can of cashews from the hotel minibar.

“We could get those for half price at the market!” I said as I tightened my fists, filled with imaginary dollar bills.

Not unreasonably, he replied, as he tossed a handful of cashews into his mouth: “It’s our vacation. Let’s enjoy it.”

Like Dr. Jekyll, I could feel myself transforming into a monster. I gave Jeff eight reasons we should never, ever eat hotel snacks. He didn’t appreciate my helpful advice.

“Stop telling me what to do and stop trying to relive your past,” he said. “I don’t want to travel like you did in your 20s. I’ve had it. Go do what you want today. I’m staying here.” Jeff stormed off 10 feet to the other side of the room.

I would never have freaked out about a cafe or snack at home. What was happening?

I had returned to Southeast Asia, but I wasn’t trying to return to my youth, was I? I set off in a huff for the National Museum.

As I gazed at a stone Buddha, I wondered about what Jeff had said. Was this a midlife crisis? Maybe there was a kernel of truth to it.

I missed some things about traveling when I was young, but I also spent those years confused and lost, not really discovering myself as I discovered the world. As I got older, I got more comfortable in my own skin, even if it had more wrinkles.

I sat down at a cafe for an iced coffee, its bottom thick with condensed milk. Some people hit middle age and buy a shiny red sports car. My midlife crisis was slightly different — wanting to make this trip perfect, but perfect for me and the nostalgia of my backpacking youth.

I admitted this to Jeff.

We left Phnom Penh for a beachfront hut I had booked, with cold showers and electricity a few hours a day. I told Jeff next time we would search together for hotels.

The next morning the sun rose as we strolled the beach of Koh Rong Sanloem, holding hands. In my 20s, I had missed too many sunrises. Now, inching toward life’s sunset, I knew I couldn’t go back in time but I’d continue to go forward with Jeff, even when he hits the hotel minibar.

Departure Points explores the ways traveling changes us, whether it’s a lesson learned or a truth uncovered. You may submit a first-person essay of 700 or fewer words to [email protected] using “Departure Points” in the subject line. Please include your first and last names and your contact information for editorial consideration.

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Some California ski resorts in Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes received their first dusting of snow in September, before summer officially ended. Now resorts have set their opening dates for the coming winter season, provided more snow arrives in time.

Early predictions say California may be in for typical, non-drought conditions, according to AccuWeather’s winter 2019-20 forecast. “A normal season in terms of snowfall will also translate to decent ski conditions for resorts in California,” the online forecast says.

Regardless of how the weather plays out, ski resorts plan to open on these dates (though you should check conditions before you go).

Mammoth and Tahoe area

Mt. Rose Ski Tahoe, Oct. 25. The resort, about 25 minutes from Reno, Nev., hopes to be first to open in the California-Nevada area. This season, Mt. Rose will offer $49 lift tickets starting at noon Fridays.

Boreal Mountain Resort, Nov. 8.

Mammoth Mountain Ski Area, Nov. 9. The first chair spins at 8:30 a.m., with a beer toast and live music to follow. Last year, Mammoth did not shut down skiing and snowboarding until July 28, racking up a 260-day ski season. On opening day, the resort will offer $50 lift tickets; plus, active duty military and veterans ski or ride free on Veterans Day (Nov. 11).

Squaw Valley/Alpine Meadows. The resort plans to open Nov. 15. Squaw will host a Leap of Love event Feb. 29 (yep, 2020 is a leap year) with a high-elevation ceremony for up to 50 couples who want to get married or renew their vows.

Heavenly Lake Tahoe and Northstar California, both in the Tahoe area, Nov. 22. New this year, Northstar brings celebrity chef Michael Mina’s Bourbon Pub to its village.

Kirkwood Mountain Resort, Nov. 27.

China Peak, Nov. 28. Mark your calendar for the New Year’s Eve torchlight parade and fireworks to welcome 2020.

Sugar Bowl, Nov. 29

Sierra-at-Tahoe plans to open mid-November.

Diamond Peak Ski Resort, Dec. 12.

Tahoe XC Ski Area plans to be open December through April; Tahoe Donner Cross Country plans to open Nov. 28.

Southern California

Big Bear Mountain Resort. The two peaks in the San Bernardino Mountains have different opening dates: Nov. 15 for Snow Summit and Nov. 22 for Bear Mountain. When you’re not on the slopes, you might party or hang at Bear Mountain’s sun deck, which has doubled for the coming season.

Mountain High Resorts, Nov. 22. The resort near Wrightwood plans its annual “Santa Sunday” on Dec. 15, when anyone in costume who makes a $20 donation to nonprofit Protect Our Winters receives a free lift ticket.

Snow Valley Mountain Resort in Running Springs plans to open late November.

Mt Baldy Resort in the Angeles National Forest (north of Claremont) is selling lift tickets for dates that begin Dec. 7, according to its website.

Yosemite

Badger Pass Ski Area, Yosemite, Dec. 20. The little ski area in Yosemite National Park recently reclaimed its historic name. You can ski, go tubing and sledding and even snowshoe inside the national park.

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Now that the Dodgers have broken your heart, perhaps you’re ready for games that are played with a ball that might divert your attention, including pickleball and jai alai. Here are five sports and where you’re likely to find them.

Pickleball

Pickleball — a hybrid of tennis, badminton and table tennis — is played on a badminton-size court with a 34-inch-high net. Players volley a perforated plastic ball with a paddle about twice the size of the one used in table tennis. The sport can be played indoors or out, singles or doubles.

Pickleball continues to grow in popularity; tournaments are played throughout the country. In California alone, contests are played this month from Anaheim to Chico.

The sport is governed by the USA Pickleball Assn. Its National Championships will be Nov. 2-10 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden, southeast of Palm Springs.

Info: USA Pickleball Assn., usapa.org

Lawn bowling

Lawn bowling games are fairly similar, although their roots are different. You can find three of the most popular (boccie, lawn bowling or pétanque) at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park

Boccie is played with wood, metal or plastic balls and involves rolling a bigger ball toward a smaller ball, called a pallino. The idea is to get your ball as close as possible to the pallino.

The same is true of pétanque, or boules, a bowling game that originated about 1910 in southern France and is often confused with boccie. It uses steel balls — a rolling ball, which is about 3 inches, and a smaller ball, about 1 inch and known as the target.

For those interested in lawn bowling, the San Francisco Lawn Bowling Club offers free lessons at noon most Wednesdays and Saturdays at the park (flat-soled shoes are required).

Info: bit.ly/petanqueSF; sflbc.org

Lacrosse

Lacrosse has huge followings on the East Coast. The enthusiasm for the game on the West Coast is growing, Scott Gelman writes in the Diamondback, the independent student-run newspaper at the University of Maryland. But for now, the East is the hot spot for this fast-paced game played with a long-handled stick with a net that the player uses to catch or throw the ball.

The Eastern enthusiasm explains why the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame and Museum is in Sparks, Md., about 23 miles north of Baltimore.

At the museum, visitors can view rare photographs along with vintage equipment, memorabilia and more. The museum has free admission and is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays.

Info: bit.ly/lacrossemuseum, uslacrosse.org/about-us-lacrosse/museum

Jai alai

Jai alai, which uses a cesta, or a “basket-racket” as the Fla-Gaming website calls it, is used to catch and launch a ball against a wall. It was a popular sport before it faded, but it still can be found in the U.S., mostly in Florida.

Magic City Casino in Miami is showcasing a new generation of jai alai players, including many former University of Miami athletes. Performances, as the games are called, are at 3 and 7 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and 1 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 30. Watching jai alai is free, although you can bet on the players.

Info: Magic City Casino, magiccitycasino.com/jai-alai

Underwater rugby

Underwater rugby consists of two teams of six players each (two goalies, two defenders and two forwards) trying to score a goal at the bottom of the pool, which may be as deep as 16 feet. Players wear a mask, snorkel and fins.

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An underwater rugby team in Boston, known as the Boston Narwhals, welcomes people to their practices and allows them to try out the sport for themselves. The team will compete for the Underwater Rugby Champions Cup Nov. 22-24 in Berlin.

Info: Underwater Rugby, underwaterrugby.org

Imagine you and a traveling companion are on Hawaii Island for a week and you want to find the best of the local cuisine that’s also budget friendly. Your quest takes you to three or four restaurants a day where you order, oh, say, two or three entrees. By Day 7, you just want to say no. But you can’t.

That was the world of writer Rosemary McClure and photographer Mel Melcon, whose mission was exactly that: Find 20 restaurants where you can have a nice meal for less than $20.

My name is Catharine Hamm, and I’m the travel editor for the Los Angeles Times. And I’m also in awe of these two, who document places where you can eat like a local. The most recent addition to our “20 Meals for $20″ series shows off lesser-known places on Hawaii Island where delicious and authentic intersect.

That’s just the beginning of our Hawaii coverage, which includes a look at the very different experiences you’ll have on Molokai and Lanai, tells you where to find golf courses that won’t set you back a week’s pay and shows off five pizza places in Honolulu.

Beyond the islands, we tell you about a traditional holiday dinner at Yosemite that’s like no other, when our ski resorts will open (sooner than you might think), a delay in reopening a Death Valley icon and where to find a mummy macaron. You’re about to embark on a veritable feast.

Eating too much so you don’t have to

Besides a lot of research ahead of time, the 20 meals for $20 team has to experience the places they showcase. By my calculation, they had at least 65 meals in seven days, probably more. I asked McClure if she ever gets sick of it. “Yes!” she told me in an email. “We count down from Day 1: 18 left, 12 left, seven left. We have to push ourselves to do the last three or four restaurants.”

But there’s an upside: “I love visiting the island mom-and-pops,” she said. “The people are so sincere and enthusiastic about their businesses and really want locals and tourists to taste and enjoy their food.” Check out their finds, and let us know if you have additions to the list.

Oh, how different they are

Lanai and Molokai aren’t the rock stars of Hawaii tourism, and at least one of them likes it that way. Jim Byers reports how one of those two lesser-visited islands has embraced the tourist, while the other has welcomed him but then reminded him to please go home.

Should you visit? Of course. But keep in mind that your visits will be very different depending on which one you choose.

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Pizza, pizza

In Hawaii? Well, yes, and we’re not just talking about the kind with pineapple, ham and cheese, James Charisma writes (and that pizza wasn’t born in Hawaii, either). He suggests five great pizza joints in Honolulu where you can get yourself a piece of the pie.

Playing a round in Hawaii

Writer Ken Van Vechten is a golf aficionado, but he knows a good value when he sees one. He tracked down eight places in Hawaii where you can enjoy the game and keep your budget relatively intact.

Scotty’s Castle reopening delayed

If it seems a long time since Death Valley’s Scotty’s Castle was damaged by a flash flood, it’s because it was. A flood in October 2015 caused nearly $50 million in damage. At first, it was thought repairs would take only a year. Now the completion date is set for 2021, the National Park Service says. In the meantime, you can take a flood recovery walking tour, Mary Forgione writes.

Visit giant California sequoias without moving a muscle

OK, a few muscles, but you don’t have to go quite as far to see the amazing trees. From noon to 2 p.m. Sunday, you can experience them through virtual reality as part of a presentation about climate change in L.A. There are concerns about the trees’ health — in fact, concerns about all plant life — in the face of hotter-than-usual droughts, Mary Forgione writes.

Let the merriment continue

The Ahwahnee is back, and so is the Yosemite Bracebridge dinner. Neither went away, but the iconic Yosemite hotel — renamed amid a legal dispute — is once again the Ahwahnee. It feels like a homecoming that the dinner, which its producing stage director calls “one part pageant, one part musical, one part immersive comedy, with a fabulous seven-course meal wrapped around it,” is nearly upon us and still has tickets. Mary Forgione has particulars.

Mummy macarons and monster milkshakes

Theme parks and Halloween go together like sangria served in an IV blood bag, don’t you think? If you said yes, take a look at some of the wonderful and weird offerings our area theme parks are touting in the spirit of Halloween, and in hopes of creating social media buzz, Hugo Martin writes.

Misplaced miserliness?

Sue Sanders and her husband, Jeff, were traveling to Asia, a place she had roamed in her youth — so she knew how to do frugal. When he opened a can of nuts from the hotel minibar, she saw red. This Departure Points, an occasional column on how travel changes us, explains that differences may define us but don’t need to defeat us. Worth a read if you ever travel with someone.

Another opening, another snow?

Mother Nature teased us last month with a taste of snow up north. Now resorts have announced opening dates, so let’s hope for another snow. Mary Forgione details which resorts are opening when, including what’s on tap for our Southern California snow playgrounds.

What we’re reading

And watching. This Atlas Obscura article by Vittoria Traverso introduces us to Kate McLean, an English artist who explores cities for their smells. Also take a look at the YouTube video as McLean leads and follows people in Canterbury, England, as they help to divine its smellscape, which includes wet dog, hot metal, tomato paste and yeast.

Paul Theroux is a master storyteller who travels and, of course, a traveler who tells stories. His prose is so vivid and fluid that you feel as though you’re with him. To get an idea of his newest book, “On the Plain of Snakes: A Mexican Journey,” start with this New York Times piece excerpted and adapted from “Snakes,” published Oct. 8. A quick nibble: “One of the greatest thrills in travel is to know the satisfaction of arrival, and to find oneself among friends.” Amen.

Victoria Kim details a different kind of journey in an article that is ostensibly a food story but speaks broadly to the people we call family and the places we call home. “South Korea Born, East L.A. Bred: A Seoul Taqueria for a Homesick Chef” tells the story of Christian Morales, a foster child who was raised by an abuela in Boyle Heights but later was deported to South Korea. Now he’s serving the foods he grew up with. It’s a story of hope and dreams realized.

What you’re reading

This newsletter, and you could be reading more like it. The L.A. Times offers a variety to suit your interests; you can browse at our newsletter page, and your choices will show up in your inbox, as if by magic. Plus they’re free. Can’t beat that with a stick.

You may decide, based on the content you see, that a subscription to The Times makes sense. We think it does, but we’re biased, so try an introductory offer. You can find the details at our special offers page. We thank you.

You can always tell us what you think to help us improve. Jim McKellar of Arcadia did.

“Great article about Santa Barbara,” he said of our recent affordable luxury story that explained how to visit Santa Barbara without breaking the bank. ”Much needed as their pricing for visiting this wonderful region has skyrocketed. Keep up the good writing.” Of course, that didn’t hurt our feelings one bit, but if you have constructive criticism, we’re open to that as well. Your thoughts welcome by email at [email protected].

End paper

I’m not making this up: I was sitting in my home office working on the newsletter, and the cat jumped down from her chair (and it is her chair), walked over to my desk, looked soulfully into my eyes and vomited. I tried not to take it personally. She must be a Dodgers fan too.

It’s that time of year when things are kind of upside down and out of order. It’s fall, and it’s 95 degrees. There’s still baseball to watch, but who cares? (I started my fanhood adoring the Washington Senators, who were so bad you had to really be a fan. A Nats cap taunts me from the bookcase.) Leaves are turning and falling — from my hibiscus, which I think got pruned to death.

My solution is always the same: Take my bad attitude and get out of town. In the coming days, I’ll pack my bags, jump on a plane and head for El Paso, for my national convention. (Do not think about burglarizing my house, thank you, lest my other cats throw up on you and the security system does the electronic equivalent.) In El Paso, I will see beloved travel colleagues in a town that has held it together since Aug. 3, when a gunman killed 22 and injured two dozen others and many more who suffer wounds we can’t see.

Of all the gifts of travel, perspective is perhaps the most valuable and least appreciated. Thank you, universe.

Now I must go clean up that orange spot on the rug.

Wherever you are, travel safely and well, and remember we will always be here to welcome you home.

BEIJING — 

China’s economic growth slowed more than expected in the third quarter, with lackluster domestic demand and the ongoing downturn in global trade weighing on output.

Gross domestic product rose 6% in the July-to-September period from a year earlier, the slowest pace since the early 1990s and weaker than the consensus forecast of 6.1%. Factory output rose 5.8% in September, retail sales expanded 7.8%, while investment gained 5.4% in the first nine months of the year.

Growth in the previous quarter was 6.2%.

The slowdown is further evidence that the Chinese government is letting the world’s second-largest economy drift lower while it seeks to clean up the financial system and curb credit.

Even without the drop-off in exports to the U.S., the economy is likely to continue struggling, with deflationary pressures hitting company profits and falling imports indicating that domestic demand is weak.

The data increase the risk that the government won’t hit its target of achieving growth of 6% to 6.5% for 2019, unless support measures are significantly stepped up. Until now, officials have focused on limited, targeted measures such as reserve-ratio cuts and credit support, wary of expanding the nation’s already heavy debt load.

“Momentum has been easing since the second half of 2018, driven by industrial weakness and moderating consumer demand,” said Li Wei, a senior economist at Standard Chartered in Shanghai. “The protracted U.S.-China dispute, which now goes well beyond just trade, has hit the sentiment badly. More policy stimulus can be expected as growth is now on the brink of sliding below the official target.”

The U.S.-China tariff battle has slowed global manufacturing, creating a drag on an overall economic growth.

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The home’s front entrance is flanked by regal lanterns bought in Copenhagen and the yard’s two 160-year-old olive trees. 

(Tim Street-Porter)

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Long Beach boasts 22 Killingsworth-designed homes; after 1970, the architect’s focus shifted to designing luxury hotels and resorts.  

(Tim Street-Porter)

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A 60-foot pool stretches from the entrance of the 1961 home designed by Case Study house architect Edward Killingsworth.  

(Tim Street-Porter)

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The home has 12-foot-high ceilings largely clad in glass; overhead lath casts ever-changing shadows. 

(Tim Street-Porter)

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A central garden atrium with a translucent roof faced with lath is the home’s hub — all rooms pivot off that fulcrum point. 

(Tim Street-Porter)

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Upon entry, a vast bricked courtyard unspools with its suggested wood-framed definitions of outdoor rooms.  

(Tim Street-Porter)

Growing up in the home of a renowned architect — one who designed four Case Study Houses for that landmark program — was akin to living in a model home, at least for the children of Edward Killingsworth.

With his office less than a mile away, Killingsworth would invite clients to the family’s 1961 Long Beach home, which served as an ineffable exemplar of glass, light, air and space.

“My dad would call: ‘I’m bringing a client for lunch,’ and in walks Conrad Hilton or John Wayne,” said his son, Kim Killingsworth. “We learned to be immaculate children.”

The younger Killingsworth recently led a private tour around the 3,400-square-foot two-bedroom home — a rare look at a legacy property just sold by Crosby Doe Associates for the pedigree price of $3.3 million. Killingsworth’s actress mother, Laura, deemed “the grande dame of Long Beach musical theater,” lived in the home until her death in June at age 95. Edward Killingsworth died in 2004.

He bought the Virginia Country Club lot for $6,500 in 1953, turning it into a family project — sons Kim and Greg initially helped landscape the parcel (every box of pulled weeds earned them playtime). Later they did other jobs, such as laying bricks and sanding and finishing their father’s custom walnut cabinetry that warms the home.

“The house was my cathedral, my religion,” said Killingsworth, 69, who likened the home’s frequent cocktail parties to scenes out of the TV series “Mad Men.”

His father was the artist-genius behind Killingsworth, Brady & Smith Associates, with its 1955 Killingsworth-designed offices located on Long Beach Boulevard — another paragon of the fragile elegance that the architect spun from post-and-beam construction and glass-rich lines. Long Beach boasts 22 Killingsworth-designed homes.

His signature project was 1962’s Case Study House No. 25, with its soaring 17-foot-high entry fronting a canal in the Naples neighborhood of Long Beach. He also designed and built La Jolla’s 1960 “Triad” houses, Nos. 23A, B and C. Arts & Architecture magazine’s Case Study House program ran from 1945 to 1964, an experiment in creating innovative and affordable prototypes capable of quick duplication for the masses freed from World War II’s strictures.

The Killingsworth family home presents a modest walled exterior. The only hint of the aesthetic exaltation that lies within is the set of soaring front doors (his trademark), bookended by regal lanterns bought in Copenhagen, and the yard’s 160-year-old olive trees.

Upon entry, a vast bricked courtyard unspools with wood-framed suggestions of outdoor rooms, all mirrored in a slender, 60-foot pool stretching from the entrance. Four more ancient olive trees grace the expanse, while a pair of fierce wood lions sourced in Jakarta stand guard.

Overhead, wisteria-laden laths shot through with light cast zebraic arrays of shadow, constantly shifting — another Killingsworth trademark that turns the house into a protean phenomenon. Famed Midcentury photographer Julius Shulman “loved this house because it looks different every minute with the passing sun,” said Kim Killingsworth, a retired lighting designer who lives with his wife, Kathleen, in Garden Grove.

After that entryway, a staggering universe of luminous space, the house beyond could have been a mere afterthought. But in truth it wholly complements the courtyard — a delicate, seamless flow of glass walls invite the outside in, turning the home nearly invisible.

A central garden atrium, with a translucent roof faced with more lath, is the home’s hub — all rooms pivot off that fulcrum, wreathing the space and its 12-foot-high ceilings with glass. From this core, Killingsworth flexes his power as master of the axis point. Unrestricted sight lines flow in diverse directions.

“Wherever you stand, you’re never locked in,” said Kim Killingsworth, positioned at the atrium’s edge, his bare feet sunk into white carpet edged with brick flooring. The architect’s intent was to liberate the eye and senses — even with his smallish design, given its 0.7-acre lot (the home was originally 2,700 square feet but was expanded after a 1977 fire to include a now-finished space above the garage).

“It’s a very large small house,” Laura Killingsworth said in a 2004 Times interview.

“It is a place where two people can live very comfortably and not feel overwhelmed by unused space.”

The Killingsworths also opened their home for gatherings that furthered civic projects, including Musical Theatre West and the Long Beach Cancer League, which was “founded over there in the living room,” said son Kim, pointing to a couch. “This house has raised a lot of money for Long Beach.” The new architecture-savvy owners are reported to have similar benevolent plans for the property.

Killingsworth’s other notable Long Beach projects include the 1957 Opdahl House on Naples island, Bixby Knolls’ 1957 Clock, Waestman, Clock Law Offices, the Cambridge office building and his four decades of work on Cal State Long Beach’s master plan. After 1970, Killingsworth’s focus shifted to designing luxury hotels and resorts.

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The 24,000-square-foot mansion on Angelo Drive features five kitchens, two wine rooms and eight bedrooms.
 

(Simon Berlyn)

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The house sits on a lot where late poet-songwriter Rod McKuen’s longtime residence once stood.
 

(Simon Berlyn)

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Outdoor amenities include a swimming pool, a bocce ball court and an outdoor theater. 

(Simon Berlyn)

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Tracy Tutor of “Million Dollar Listing: Los Angeles” sold her home on North Carmelina Avenue for about $4.7 million less than the asking price.
 

(Simon Berlyn)

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In the emerald green-hued family room, there’s a wraparound bar. 

(Simon Berlyn)

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The Monterey Colonial-inspired house pairs traditional design details with bursts of color.

(Simon Berlyn)

A lifestyle entrepreneur, a music executive and a drag queen were among the movers and shakers making waves in Los Angeles County’s high-end real estate market in September. Here’s a closer look:

$42.75 million — Beverly Hills Post Office

On Angelo Drive, a multilevel mansion developed by private equity investor and lifestyle entrepreneur Max Fowles-Pazdro sold to a limited liability company for $3.75 million less than the asking price.

Set behind artistic gates, the 24,000-square-foot mansion has five kitchens, two wine rooms, eight bedrooms, 11 bathrooms and seven powder rooms. Plaster walls, chevron-patterned oak floors and silk and cashmere wallpaper are among interior details. A biometric fingerprint reader is used to unlock the pivoting front doors.

The mansion sits on a 43,000-square-foot lot where late poet-songwriter-singer Rod McKuen once had a home. A zero-edge swimming pool, an outdoor theater, a bocce ball court and gardens make up the grounds.

Stephen Resnick and Jonathan Nash of Hilton & Hyland were the listing agents. Patrick Fogarty, also with Hilton & Hyland, represented the buyer.

$24.9 million — Pacific Palisades

In the Huntington Palisades area, a Mediterranean-style home that was once the centerpiece of the McCormick Estate, a 13-acre compound built for a manufacturing heir, sold in a deal completed off market. It had been listed earlier in the year for $27.5 million.

Built in 1929, the bluff-top residence takes in ocean views from nearly every room. Features include a solarium with hand-painted beams, hand-waxed Venetian plaster walls and a recently updated master suite. A total of six bedrooms and five bathrooms lie within more than 6,200 square feet of space.

Outside, grounds of about two-thirds of an acre hold a terrace, a swimming pool and lawn. A brick motor court sits beyond the gated entry.

$23.45 million — Malibu

Philanthropists James and Eleanor Randall sold their Malibu home of more than a decade to a trust in a deal completed off market.

The 1.7-acre estate, set on an ocean-view bluff, includes a French Regency-style main residence, two guesthouses, a lighted tennis court and a swimming pool. The stone-clad main home has ocean views from nearly every room. Its 13,000 square feet of living space includes a chef’s kitchen with a marble-topped island, a billiards room, a theater, six bedrooms and seven bathrooms.

The property was previously put up for lease a year ago for $100,000 a month. There have been five home sales of $20 million or more in Malibu this year, records show.

Sandro Dazzan of the Agency was the listing agent. Melissa Oliver of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage represented the buyer.

$19.66 million — Brentwood

Real estate agent and “Million Dollar Listing: Los Angeles” personality Tracy Tutor sold a home she owned in a trust on North Carmelina Avenue for about $4.7 million less than the asking price.

The Monterey Colonial-inspired house was designed by architect Stephen Giannetti and built in 2008. It has about 11,000 square feet of living space, a two-story entry, a library/billiards room and a bar. In the living room, sets of French doors open directly to a covered lounge. There are seven bedrooms and 10 bathrooms.

Outside, lawn borders a swimming pool and pool deck. A pool house with a fireplace sits across from the main house.

Tutor co-listed the property with fellow Douglas Elliman agent Gina Dickerson.

$16.949 million — Beverly Hills Post Office

Capitol Music Group Chairman Steve Barnett sold his home on Beverlycrest Drive to a limited liability company tied to Vestar Capital founder Robert Rosner and his wife, Cecile, in a deal completed off market.

The Spanish-style house, built in 2001, anchors a roughly half-acre hilltop lot with a swimming pool and spa. The home has about 6,800 square feet of living space, coffered ceilings, four bedrooms and seven bathrooms.

$14.75 million — Beverly Hills

Producer Lisa Henson, daughter of “Muppets” creator Jim Henson, sold her home on North Arden Drive for about $2.25 million less than the asking price. The buyer was a trust tied to Michael Patrick King, the writer-director behind “Sex and the City” and “2 Broke Girls.”

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The 92-year-old Spanish hacienda boasts character details such as plaster walls, custom tilework and arched openings. Thick beams top the formal living room, which has a massive fireplace, and the dining room has hand-painted ceilings. An updated kitchen is equipped with two islands. Including a detached guesthouse, there are seven bedrooms and 10 bathrooms.

Outside, the property has vegetable gardens, patios and a swimming pool.

David Offer of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties held the listing. Forrest O’Connor of Douglas Elliman represented the buyer.

$13.7 million — Beverly Hills

A trust tied to television and talk show host RuPaul paid about $2.7 million less than the asking price for a European-vibe mansion on Laurel Way.

A two-story foyer topped with an elaborate dome sits beyond the entry of the 10,000-square-foot house. On the main level are a media room, an office, a wine cellar and a pair of living rooms with parquet floors. The master suite — among the six bedrooms and eight bathrooms — lies upstairs.

Outside, lampposts punctuate grounds containing a swimming pool and a gazebo.

RuPaul, 58, boasts an impressive string of film and TV credits dating to the 1980s, and his reality competition show “RuPaul’s Drag Race” has won four Primetime Emmy Awards. He’s also released 12 studio albums, the most recent of which was 2018’s “Christmas Party.”

Myra and Michael Nourmand of Nourmand and Associates held the listing. Michael Libow of Compass represented the buyer.

The leaves are changing. The wind comes with a faint chill. The back-to-school sale racks have been replaced by the Halloween spread.

This can only mean one thing: Another cold and flu season is upon us.

And with it, an onslaught of dubious claims about products that allegedly cut your risk of coming down with something. Lately, it seems like every single person with some combination of the words “wellness,” “natural” or “herbal” in their Instagram bio has been touting elderberry products — various tinctures from juices and syrups to gummies and teas — as a safe, natural way to ward off a cold or the flu. More than 150,000 Instagram posts have been tagged #elderberry or #elderberrysyrup. Google searches in the U.S. for “elderberry” have spiked during the last two cold and flu seasons. Even some local newspapers have bought into the elderberry-as-flu-prevention craze.

So: Is elderberry juice really something that can replace the flu shot?

“Absolutely not. No,” said Dr. Michael Smit, a physician and the medical director of infection prevention and control at Children’s Hospital L.A. He said colleagues have reported parents asking about elderberry as an alternative treatment for the flu. The word “remedy” gets thrown around a lot in conjunction with “elderberry,” Smit said, but “we don’t really use ‘remedy’ as a medical term.”

“As far as the medical establishment goes, there is no acceptable evidence to date that elderberry is effective for prevention or treatment of influenza,” Smit said.

But that’s not to say elderberry products have no place in your medicine cabinet: “I would say that there might be some value with elderberry products as far as a soothing aspect for it, just like you would get from having a glass of herbal tea.”

Dr. Malcolm Taw, a professor and director of the UCLA Center for East-West Medicine in Westlake Village, says there’s a reason elderberry concoctions have been cited as cold and flu fighters in medical history.

“This will not replace the flu vaccine,” he said. But elderberry products “have, I’d say a complementary or adjunctive role.”

In some small-scale studies conducted in Norway, Australia and Israel, taking elderberry products has been shown to reduce the severity and duration of symptoms of colds and influenza. Of course, getting a flu shot can also do that, as can medications like Tamiflu. Elderberry products and pharmaceutical medications have never been scientifically tested directly against one another to see which one works better in that regard.

At the Center for East-West Medicine, Taw said they try to integrate the “best of both worlds,” marrying alternative and holistic medicine with Western treatments. When it comes to the flu, “our recommendation at our center would be to get the flu vaccine, but to use elderberry to help manage or mitigate the symptoms,” he said.

The rise of home-brew elderberry products is also cause for concern, said Deborah Blum, director of the Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT and the author of two books about poisons. On Twitter, Blum responded to a now-deleted tweet from a user who shared a photo of an email allegedly from a Columbia professor who had accidentally been poisoned by homemade elderberry syrup.

“Believe it or not, I have poisoned myself,” the email began. “I am a great believer in natural this and that, and take tincture of elderberry instead of a flu shot.” The professor relates having attempted to make a syrup at home out of unripened and uncooked berries. “It turns out they have cyanide.”

Indeed they do, Blum said. Specifically, elderberries have glycocyanide, which she described as a kind of cyanide sugar. The seeds of uncooked elderberries contain this natural poison as a defense against predators. Eating an uncooked elderberry can lead to nausea, vomiting, and other unpleasant digestive side effects.

If you’re interested in adding elderberry to your cold-and-flu-season repertoire, both Blum and Taw recommend buying commercial products over making it yourself. But when it comes to preventing the flu, the best methods are the ones any doctor will recommend: Wash your hands frequently, especially after coughing. If you feel sick, stay home.

And get a flu shot.

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I am in the finished basement of our family home, about to do my first workout with a new trainer. God knows I need it: For more than a decade, I have been losing my battle with physical fitness and, at age 57, have decided to finally get serious and fight back. My plan is to work out at least four times a week, maybe five, and not find excuses this time for capitulating to the couch.

Dressed in Yogalicious capri pants and a Calvin Klein Performance T-shirt (newly purchased for motivation), I greet my instructor, Rachel, ready to start with an easy workout she has designed.

“Happy Sunday,” she says to me, as I make sure the space around us is clear. “I’ve put together a cardio strength class for us,” she says, adding that I will need a light elastic band and dumbbells. “Go ahead and grab one or two sets, lighter and heavier so you have the option.” I dig out the band and 3- and 5-pound sets of weights from a nearby basket and rush back.

Minutes later, I am following her every movement through a sequence of squats, arm exercises and some half-plank movements. A jumping-jack routine has even been adjusted to accommodate my right foot, still somewhat weak after an injury several years ago.

“Accept where you are at present,” she tells me, encouragingly, as I huff and puff along. “You are creating change in your body.” By the end of the workout, I am sweating profusely but feel truly energized. I want to throw my arms around Rachel and thank her for making this Sunday more about exercise than eating, but I can’t.

Rachel is a hologram.

A few days earlier, a gorgeous black case with one word, “MIRROR,” written in white italic capital letters on its lid arrived on my doorstep. Inside was a heart monitor, six beautifully wrapped rubber bands of different lengths and elasticity, and a card that read, “Hello! Welcome to Mirror! Thank you for being an early member of this growing fitness revolution. We built Mirror because we were tired of fighting our ‘real lives’ for our fitness goals.”

The card was signed by Brynn Putnam, a Harvard graduate and former professional ballet dancer who founded the Refine Movement, a boutique gym in New York, and is now the entrepreneur behind Mirror.

As its name suggests, Mirror, which launched in September 2018, is a full-length mirror that one puts on a wall. Like other in-home workout devices that have jump-started a movement, Mirror streams a variety of original on-demand and live classes taken by an unseen community of fellow exercisers and led by eight motivational trainers. With Mirror, these instructors suddenly appear on the surface of the screen, allowing you to mirror their movements through a variety of workouts at different levels. What’s more, you need only the space of a yoga mat and, unlike working out on an iPad, don’t have to squint to see your trainer.

Two days after my Mirror box arrived in late August, two men delivered, installed and plugged in my mirror in less than 15 minutes. I downloaded the Mirror iOS app on my iPhone (it will launch an Android version in November), paired the Mirror with my Wi-Fi and heart rate monitor, and filled out my profile, including past injuries. (It can also be synced to a Bluetooth heart rate monitor as well as Bluetooth audio device.)

I was now ready for my first on-demand class. (I decided to hold off on a live class until I knew what I was doing.)

Standing before the Mirror, the irony of the moment was not lost on me. In recent years, I had been avoiding mirrors. Now, I was about to confront my body head-on with the help of a trainer. I scrolled through the dizzying choice of a dozen types of workouts, from kickboxing (which I had never done) to stretching and everything in between: cardio, yoga, Pilates … you name it. Within each category, I could choose classes of different levels (1 to 4) and duration (15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes).

On my first day, I chose the easiest class I could find: a Level 1, 15-minute workout led by Rachel.

When I clicked on her class, I could see the other Mirror subscribers remotely joining the session. Their names and locations streamed across the bottom of the screen: One in Houston, another in Maine, even one in my own town in Michigan.

The class was over before I could blink. I loved it … and then I hated it. At the end of each workout, the Mirror reveals key data about your performance. Mine was disastrous. My average heart rate was 64 beats per minute (was I asleep?), I had burned only 71 calories (depressingly, the same amount as half a glass of wine), and I had been in the target “zone” for only one minute. It was obvious I had nowhere to go but up. I was the biggest loser.

But then the words “Boom Jennifer, you did it!” shone out from my Mirror. I immediately logged into another class.

My journey from fit to fat officially began in 2009. Until then, I had resided in cities (seven to be exact) for my entire adult life and much of my daily routine involved walking from one destination to another. Then we moved into a house in the countryside six miles from the nearest grocery store, and the only thing my feet regularly hit was the car accelerator. My husband and I watched as the pounds piled on, and we panicked.

We put an old exercise bike and treadmill that my parents no longer used in the basement. While my husband enjoyed both, I did not. Exercising to the news or music didn’t motivate me. I joined a gym so I could take group classes, which I had always loved, but then ruptured my Achilles and spent the next six months in a cast and rehab. Returning to a full-time job, as I did four years ago after 30 years of working from home and raising three children, I quickly learned how hard it is to both work and work out.

Mirror’s fitness model totally reflected (pun intended) my life. Or as Putnam’s welcome card read, “We all deserve great content, tons of variety, true personalization, and a vibrant community on our schedule in the easiest place to work out: our homes.”

It turns out Putnam came up with the idea when she became pregnant and started feeling a time squeeze between running her gym business and tending to her morning sickness. “My story is not unlike your story,” she said in a recent phone interview. “Taking 30 minutes to go back and forth to fit in my own workout was too much.”

Though she tried at-home app-streaming classes, they did not feel interactive enough and she missed the visual feedback of her gym, outfitted with mirrors. “I was sacrificing quality for convenience,” she said.

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Before I discovered Mirror, I was contemplating joining Peloton. Everyone I knew was experiencing the adrenaline of virtual fitness via Peloton, which has more than 1 million users taking advantage of its streaming workouts on bikes and treadmills. (Flywheel, one of Peloton’s brick-and-mortar competitors, just announced it will close 11 of its 42 locations nationwide.)

Although Putnam will not yet disclose Mirror’s sales numbers, she said it exceeded its first-year target during last year’s holiday season and that there were now Mirrors in every state. To keep up with demand, this November, Mirror is opening its second store, in Century City. Its first is in New York’s Flatiron District.

Mirror is not inexpensive at $1,495, but it costs less than the Peloton bike ($2,245) and far less than the Peloton treadmill ($4,295). Mirror is waiving its delivery and installation fee of $250 and offering a 36-month, zero-interest payment plan that comes out to $42 a month. (According to Putnam, 40% of Mirror users have chosen that option.) The monthly subscription fee is the same as Peloton at $39, and like Peloton, one Mirror subscription allows multiple users (in the case of Mirror, six per subscription). I could see how it might benefit other members of my family given that the app includes an easy chair class my elderly parents might enjoy, and even pre- and postnatal classes (though I am not ready to be a grandmother).

Considering I had been paying $25 a week for a Saturday morning Pilates class (not including gas), this felt like a bargain. If for some reason I did not like what I saw in the Mirror within 30 days, I could return it, though I would have to pay $250 for its delivery back to the company.

In my first Mirror month, I worked out on average four times a week. If I woke up late with little time before work, feeling groggy, I would take a 15-minute yoga, stretch or toning class (though they were still tough as I advanced to a few Level 2 classes after the first two weeks). If I woke up early and bright-eyed, I would take a 30-minute cardio dance or kickboxing class. (When alone, you try new classes, unfazed if you trip over a dance move or kick the mirror by accident.)

My enthusiasm was so great, I started canceling happy hour with friends and instead invited them over to hang with my Mirror and me … and Rachel and Julie and Lance, my Mirror trainers who felt like my new best friends. Why drink calories when you could burn them? On weekends, I would participate in live workouts where I could hear my teacher shout out to me in real time, “Keep it up, Jennifer!” as I and my fellow classmates sent emojis during a water break that would light up next to our names, proving we were present … and alive. I even did a Tracy Anderson class (Mirror has a content partnership with her).

When I had to travel one week, I missed my Mirror and wished my hotel gym had one (a number of luxury hotels apparently do have Mirrors now, as do Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston and Ellen DeGeneres). Last week, I tried my first Level 3, 45-minute strength class with a new trainer, Gerren. At the end, I marveled at my results. I had burned nearly 500 calories, been in the zone for 22 minutes, and had an average heart rate of 115. I have not lost 10 pounds, but I have lost five. And I feel stronger, more empowered, and more motivated to get in shape than I have in a decade.

On Oct. 8, Mirror launched a two-way audio and video experience that is analogous to having a personal trainer in your home. For $40 for a 30-minute session, trainers will be able to see and hear their clients, and give feedback and corrections in real time.

I hope to have Rachel, my first trainer. But I still won’t be able to hug her when class is over.

“When I was little, I used to love to read the classified car ads iysAutoweek,” said Randy Nonnenberg, the Bring a Trailer cofounder and chief executive, his bright blue eyes flashing at the memory. “I’d even cut some of them out and pin them to my wall.”

Recently, I visited Nonnenberg, a bona fide car nut (as well as an engineer and entrepreneur), and his team of 18 in their open-plan, sheet metal-filled offices in San Francisco. The company’s winning formula is auctioning collectible cars online in real time, 50-plus a day, five days a week.

The daily lineup, hand-honed by Howard Swig, head of auctions, and his team, never fails to find the delicate balance between variety, rarity and nostalgia. The mix is often actually weird, and usually weirdly successful. Cars with clean histories, fanboy followings and delectable stories rise to the top. “We look at each submission from a buyer’s perspective: What important model-specific details would a prospective bidder need to see about a specific vehicle to make an educated decision to buy?” says Swig. “We also want to list cars (and trucks and motorcycles) across a spectrum of condition and price. Every day it’s a choice between quality and quantity.”

Up until now, if you wanted to buy a Chevy Corvair, say, or a Datsun 240Z or a mint-condition, air-cooled Porsche 911, you’d go to eBay Motors, Craigslist, Hemmings, dealer sites or one of the live auction houses — from Russo and Steele and Barrett-Jackson to higher-end concerns like RM Sotheby’s. The collective online offerings from these sources are vast but leave the average buyer needing to go elsewhere to research. Live auctions pose their own limitations: They allow buyers to get up close to the cars, but the sales events happen only a few times a year, so it’s hit or miss, depending on what you’re looking for. They also tend to be more expensive — for buyer and seller.

Bring a Trailer quietly stepped into the online auction space in 2014 with three auctions a week (it now offers 275). In a few short years, the startup has successfully disrupted a crowded space with a solution no one had thought they needed — and that others want to copy.

Part of BaT’s secret sauce is the quirky daily model mix, which loyalists consume as if it were breaking news. Another ingredient is the level of service the company provides to each seller. It is exceedingly careful about the cars it accepts; Swig gives the nod to only 40-50% of vehicles submitted. Once a car passes muster, the seller is assigned a specialist/writer who captures all available information about a vehicle. The specialist tracks the sale once it’s live, jumping in to answer questions and comments over the auction’s seven days.

Moreover, unlike its competitors, BaT is a living repository for all information it’s ever posted about a car. You can see, for free, the prices the vehicle you want has commanded in past sales on BaT. (If you really want to, you can click all the way back to Nonnenberg’s first post in 2007 about an Austin-Healey he found on Craigslist.) BaT is fully transparent about all costs associated with selling and buying — an important component of the trust it has garnered from some of the industry’s most knowledgeable automotive experts.

That rabid tribe of aficionados, the third component of what sets BaT apart, is an ever-growing pack: 130,000 registered bidders and 195,000 subscribers to the daily email newsletter. Those numbers, according to Nonnenberg, are growing by 10% a month.

That engaged audience is neither random nor unintelligent about the cars for sale. In other words, these aren’t people with too much time on their hands. They are seasoned owners, buyers, dealers, mechanics and loyalists who have come to realize that BaT is a site of such authenticity, transparency and well, geeky attention to detail that they will take their time to weigh in and ensure the record is honest and straight.

A recent example: The suspension on an early BMW M3 caught the attention of more than a few Bimmer-philes, who questioned whether the components were stock. Dozens of comments from experts and former and current owners, all of whom had carefully inspected every photo, posed questions, teased out answers and created the human equivalent of a Carfax report — but better. “We recently listed a 1997 Acura Integra Type R with 6,000 original miles and got over 700 comments,” Nonnenberg says.

Among BaT’s fans are many automotive heavy-hitters. “The thing I like about Bring a Trailer is that it’s not extremely high end, it’s just cars of interest,” says car collector and former “Tonight Show” host Jay Leno. “I bought my 1963 Ford Falcon Sprint through them, and it saved me time. What makes it fun are finding cars with stories and without creepy people coming to your house.”

Other automotive insiders agree. “The world perceives that Bring a Trailer is not greedy; they are one of us,” says Keith Martin, founder of Sports Car Market. “They are enthusiasts at heart and that makes everyone happy.”

McKeel Hagerty, chief executive of Hagerty, a specialty provider of classic-car insurance — the Mark Zuckerberg of collector cars, according to one insider — agrees. “I give the Bring a Trailer team full credit. They are the best, safest transaction platform that we have today. Their community values truth, and that’s reflected in the prices.”

If your garage isn’t pining for a ’72 BMW 2002tii or a late ’60s Shelby Mustang, you can still get in on the addictive action. BaT has begun to work with nonprofits like L.A.’s Petersen Automotive Museum to sell experiences. It recently auctioned off the chance to get a ride in Steve McQueen’s 1956 Jaguar XKSS — one of the crown jewels of the museum’s collection.

The Petersen gave me the chance to experience what the winning bidder spent $7,500 on: I slipped into the Jag’s left-side passenger seat early one recent morning and was amazed at how visceral every detail was. Even going 30 mph through L.A. traffic was a deliciously low-slung, noisy, fume-filled joyride. And if you do bid on such a rare-air moment, the funds all go to charity.

Here is BaT’s math: Sellers pay a flat $99 fee for an approved listing, which includes guidelines on required photos and vehicle history, the written listing itself (which the owner gets to approve), and live comment tracking for the auction’s duration. For $349, BaT will send a professional photographer to capture your car’s best angles. And recently BaT launched a white-glove listing service, typically for six-figure-plus vehicles.

The cost to the seller is up to $2,000 for a turnkey marketing experience. These new, premium sales tend to run on average 14 days instead of seven. “We have found that the bigger-ticket items benefit from a longer time frame,” says Nonnenberg.

On the buyer’s side, BaT charges a flat 5% fee of the sale price, capped at $5,000. As a comparison, most live-auction houses charge up to 12%.

How successful are all these auctions? BaT’s sell-through rate is 76% , and the average price is $30,000. “We typically don’t relist cars that didn’t sell, but we do introduce the seller to the highest bidder,” says Nonnenberg. “And we don’t take any additional fees if they reach a deal.”

I asked numerous industry leaders whether BaT’s growth and success make the company ripe for acquisition. Off the record, most concurred. One even said that several smart groups in the space are trying to figure out how to build a competitive platform.

I asked Nonnenberg too about BaT’s future. He acknowledged that it has had several interested potential buyers, but so far he’s not taking the bait. True to the deeply enthusiast nature of the brand he’s built, he’s not looking for an epic windfall — a good thing, since the high-touch nature of BaT isn’t easy to scale.

“Unlike friends of mine who have started companies to eventually sell them, I am doing exactly what I really love to do,” said Nonnenberg. “And I don’t want to do anything else.”

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